The Rundown | Chicago News

The Chicago City Council has approved the revenue portion of a rival, aldermanic-led spending plan that does not include a corporate head tax as Mayor Brandon Johnson wanted. It still requires a second official vote to be fully adopted. The Trump administration said the Chicago Transit Authority’s new security plan “fails to meet the need for immediate, measurable corrective action” and threatened to withhold up to 50 million dollars from the agency. Chicago six-piece soul band Hollyy will play its fifth-annual holiday show at Thalia Hall. Plus, a state panel documenting alleged abuses by federal immigration agents held its first meeting. The Illinois Accountability Commission plans to interview witnesses and review bystander videos on social media.

A state commission examining wrongdoing by federal agencies during the so-called “Operation Midway Blitz” is now taking testimony. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says he will do "whatever it takes" to avoid a government shutdown. A coalition of alders advanced a rival budget proposal, and the plan still needs a full council vote. The Chicago Bears will host arch-rivals the Green Bay Packers Saturday night. Plus, fans of the novelist Jane Austen celebrated her 250th birthday through a Regency ball – complete with a string quartet, historical snacks, and dancers in gowns stitched from YouTube tutorials.

Chicago's Jewish community continues to mourn the victims of the mass shooting during a Hanukkah celebration in Australia. An Illinois state task force is investigating why violence against women and girls in Chicago is disproportionately high. Chicago officials are urging people to get their vaccines before gathering with friends and family for the holidays. Plus, a school on Chicago’s southwest side has long had a club to support students without legal status and to raise money to help them go to college. But this year with immigration enforcement tearing families apart, the club has changed course.

U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino has returned to the Chicago area. Illinois might not be able to generate all the power it needs to meet future demand because coal-fired plants are shutting down and newer, cleaner sources aren’t coming online fast enough. The Chicago Blackhawks are playing in Toronto without star center Conor Bedard due to an upper-body injury. Plus, a Chicago theater company created its own holiday-inspired version of the “Real Housewives” reality television series: The Real Housewives of the North Pole.

Jewish leaders in Chicago are mourning the lives lost in Australia this weekend, but say they won’t live in fear as Hanukkah celebrations continue this week. Actor and film director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer, were killed in their Los Angeles home yesterday. Some anti-violence advocates want the Chicago Transit Authority to allow violence interruptors to patrol the transit system. Plus, the move-out deadline has passed for the last residents of a Chicago apartment building raided in the fall by federal immigration agents. A judge ordered the troubled South Shore building vacated by last Friday and appointed a manager to secure the property and help residents relocate. Tenants say that “help” was merely a check and a list of phone numbers to call. WBEZ's Esther Yoon-Ji Kang spent some time with one resident as he scrambled to figure out where he goes from here.